Posts Tagged peace

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

This past weekend was the first severe weather of the spring season. Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms throughout the Midwest region were bearing down on us. Since I grew up in Oklahoma, this is not foreign to me. However, my children had grown up –  to this point –  in Las Vegas. Severe weather in their mind is 115 degrees of heat, heat, heat. To say they get nervous in thunderstorms is somewhat of an understatement. Especially my worrisome red-head.

The weather maps showed us to be on the edge of the tornado watch, but we were certain to have severe thunderstorms, possible hail and a very strong wind advisory. Of course, this was blowing through during the night which equalled no sleep for Mom and Dad with four children invading our bed, and our sleep.

The only reasonable solution….a camp out. We grabbed the sleeping bags, pillows, and whatever toys and computers they wanted to play with and down we went. They thought this was so cool to have all of us sleep in the basement. Except for craving my pillow-top, I did too.

Sleeping bags and pillow pets, legos on the table and Psych on the tv. What more could a person need?

We all slept undisturbed through the night, and the kids had a wonderful time. Down in the basement, we could not hear anything going on above us. We were in peace. We were together. It was near perfect. Before sleep, I sat in the floor and just watched each one doing his or her own thing, completely content. Safe. Secure.

Isn’t that the perfect illustration of how God wants to work in our lives? We can be in the midst of the biggest storm of our life, threats of danger and situations creating fear and dread. But when we let God be in charge of our life, we can still find that safe, content and secure place. The place of peace that drowns out the loud thunder and ruckus going on around us.

I have found He is many things to me. My Savior. Provider. Redeemer. Lover of my soul. My Healer. Joy. And in the darkest times of my life, He is my Peace that surpasses all understanding. There will be storms to rage again, but I know where to hide. Or shall I say, with Whom. He is my Refuge.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:5-6

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah. Psalm 62:8

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Monday, March 26, 2012

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest.” Exodus 14:14 (AMP)

In life, we’re always going to have critics. We’ll always have difficult people who try to upset us and steal our peace and joy. But, you don’t have to respond to every critic. You can decide to take the high road and let God fight your battles for you.

Sometimes, no matter what you say or do, there are people who aren’t going to accept you. They just don’t want to be at peace with you. In fact, when Jesus sent out His disciples to certain homes, He told them to always speak peace over those homes. And then He said in effect, “If they don’t receive the peace that you’re offering, then it will come back to you.” That tells me, if you will do your best to be at peace with people, even if they won’t take your peace, the good news is that peace will just come back to you. You’ll not only get your peace, but you’ll get their share as well! That’s double for your trouble! When you do the right thing no matter what is happening, God sees it and He rewards it.

~Joel Osteen
from his daily Today’s Word devotions

 Friday, August 12, 2011

Today started out a bit rocky. And that is being generous. I am trying – really trying - to get myself out of bed early to prepare for next week, and the next nine months. Summertime finds me routinely late-to-bed, late-to-rise, and it is a true pleasure. But when school starts, I have to get back to being the responsible – and on-time – carpooling mom of four. This morning, I snoozed my alarm for a full hour. Really, an hour.

I stumbled down the stairs desperately trying to smell the coffee brewing, but there was none. The pot was hot. And empty. I fiddled with it for 15 minutes before giving up with a groan. I pulled out my blender and favorite Arbonne shake mix to find that I did not have enough for a shake. Seriously?

As if this wasn’t already painful enough, my stomach began to gurgle and make scary sounds. I ran upstairs to my bathroom. How can I put this delicately? I had an overactive intestinal tract? Grandma would say I had the fox trots. Oh my goodness. This morning is not, repeat not, going according to plan.

In between the fox trots, I sat down in my husband’s chair in the bedroom to do some Bible study. (Yes, it is my husband’s chair because possession is nine-tenth’s of the law, and he is usually in possession of it.) It just so happened that I am in the middle of studying peace, and I was fully aware that only the Lord could salvage where my mood was headed.

This was one of those moments where my mood takes a left turn and I compound the circumstances with negative voices in my head. Thankfully these times are fleeting and in-frequent, but I have let negative thoughts take over as opposed to taking my thoughts captive. I fall victim to the what if game. The game where I think of who I could have been if. That word, if, can be a very dangerous word. If I had not had kids...if I had not chosen to be a stay-at-home mom…if.If…then I could… That is the dangerous game I am referring to.

I could be thin and fit and energetic. I could take exotic vacations because there would be disposable income. I could be a CFO or a leading heart surgeon. I could be organized, proficient and always have a clean house. I could hire someone to do all my laundry and housekeeping. I could drive a clean car, without toys and crumbs mashed into car seats. I could have a tranquil home without homework debates and arguing over whose portion is largest. Oh, what I could…

Instead I have a rowdy home with toys on every floor. I have lively conversations around the dinner table filled with laughter, in between insisting on mouth’s chewing with CLOSED lips. I have spontaneous kisses and hugs so tight it felt like a Heimlich manuever. I have sleepy little boys crawling into my bed in the morning to cuddle. I have the experience of watching my oldest sitting behind a steering wheel for the first time. I have high-fives and knuckle bumps to celebrate victories of no training-wheels or swimming without floaties.

Yes, I have a lot of laundry and more crumbs than I can conquer. I am learning algebra – again. I referee without a whistle and I am often riddled with guilt because I yell. Vacations are not exotic and are often shorter than I wish. Coupons and discounts are frequent words in my vocabulary and I mend skinned knees and broken hearts. In some ways I guess I am a CFO and a leading heart surgeon.

I could have been a lot of things. But maybe I am more. The time will come someday to conquer my own personal goals and have a tidy home, and it will be here all to soon. What I am choosing to be today though, is Mom. I am more than okay with that. I have been blessed.

Monday, August 1, 2011

My oldest little pumpkin just recently went to spend a week with Grandma and Papa. This was the first time he went without at least one of his siblings. He was really excited to be the sole-attention-grabber for a whole week. I called him half-way through his visit and asked him if he wanted me to come get him early.

His response was, “Mom, I am in paradise. Just let me enjoy it for a few more days.”

He experienced another first this week as well. Golden Corral. I don’t remember the last time I set foot in a Golden Corral, but I know it was many years before he was born. Apparently, this place is a young boy’s dream come true.

 ”Mom, you would not believe it!” He gushed to me. “We went to this place called Golden Coral.” Yes, he pronounced it as coral instead of corral.

“They had these separate concession stands set up where you just walk up and get food for free. And they had all kinds of different foods. And you can get all you want.” Deep breath so he could continue to gush words as fast as possible.

“And they even had shrimp. Oh my goodness, Mom, it was like the best shrimp you have ever had.” Obviously his palate has not developed yet. “And you can eat all you want of it. And they had desserts too. They were really great concession stands.”

Yes, it is apparent to me too, that we need to expose our children to more….things….buffets…variety. But taking them to Golden Corral would mean we would have to eat it also. That is a problem to solve for another day. But his Dad and I did rather enjoy his story.

This morning during my Bible study though, I thought of his story. I pictured him having all these choices in front of him. And picking and choosing what he would take. Sometimes carefully choosing, other times not picking something because he didn’t know it was even there or he didn’t know that it really did taste good, and was good for him.

I am studying the peace of Christ. He is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 calls Christ the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I read in four different verses in the Gospels where Jesus said, “Peace be with you.”

One of my biggest problems/sins/setbacks/difficulties/hindrances is that I am a worrier. I worry. Too much. A lot. Matthew 6:25 says, in red I might add, to “not worry about your life.” And verse 27 goes on to say, still in red,”Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

In fact, worrying can take hours from your life. It is a proven cause of many disesases, because worry is stress. But what it does for me is steals from my quality of life; worrying steals my joy. I am at a table of all God has promised to His children – and I am His daughter – and I am not accepting what He is offering me. I am treating it like a buffet line, picking and choosing. That is not what He intended.

I do not have to worry, because He is the Prince of Peace. I should be casting my cares on Him every day, every hour. (1 Peter 5:7 and Psalm 55:22). And how I am learning to do this is by meditating on the scripture in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that says “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” When I am not practicing taking every thought captive to Christ, I worry. And I am not obeying Christ.

In Matthew 6 Jesus goes on to say in verses 33 and 34, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The devil will pitch a tent my mind when I am not taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ. The devil sets up camp and I sin with constant worry. I am definitely a work in progress. But when I feel myself weaken in my resolve to capture the worry and cast it on Christ, I remember one of my mottos: Don’t allow anything in your life you don’t want reproduced in your children’s lives.

I guess today’s lesson was written by me and for me. But I wish you worry-free days, Girlfriend, filled with peace and joy.